


A Warm Spring Day

by KatyaZel



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Anxious Remus Lupin, Fluff, M/M, Marauders Era (Harry Potter), Pre-Slash, Sirius Black as Padfoot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-06
Updated: 2020-07-06
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:08:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,761
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25111396
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KatyaZel/pseuds/KatyaZel
Summary: Remus's anxiety is getting the better of him, so he wanders the castle alone. Until, that is, Sirius comes and finds him, and introduces him to Padfoot for the first time.
Relationships: Sirius Black & Remus Lupin, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Comments: 4
Kudos: 93





	A Warm Spring Day

Quiet was rare enough these days. As spring turned to summer, it seemed that every student was buzzing about something, be it an upcoming weekend in Hogsmeade, a new relationship, exams, or, most relevantly, the quidditch season. Today, Slytherin and Hufflepuff were facing off; if Slytherin won by more than one-hundred points, Gryffindor would stand a chance at the cup. 

Remus knew this, and every other detail of the quidditch season, thanks to James’s incessant chatter on the topic. At sixteen, he finally knew that he wasn’t going to become a professional player, and so each year seemed to hold more urgency for him. Remus tried to tolerate it as best he could, but it could be positively stultifying, sometimes, to hear of point spreads and strategies and weather conditions.

Today, while the whole school was out watching the match, Remus had elected to stay inside. He spent a few minutes in the library, but Madame Pince gave him such frequent and contemptuous looks that he gave up on studying and decided to simply walk where the staircases took him. He was wandering past Flitwick’s office when he heard clomping footsteps behind him. He shut his eyes and fought back a smile. “Hello, Sirius.”

Sirius stopped in his tracks; Remus turned to face him and laughed at the dumbfounded look on the other boys face. “How did you know it was me?”

“No one else in this school wears such ridiculous boots.”

Sirius grinned. “I think they’re sexy. Don’t you?” Remus refused to answer and willed himself not to blush. Sirius continued, “You wanker, what the hell are you doing in here? Big game, and all that! James is beside himself.”

“How did you find me?” Remus asked, evading the question.

“Map,” Sirius said simply, proudly. The map was new, and each boy felt a maternal fondness for it.

“I just couldn’t do it today,” Remus admitted, leaning against the wall. “The crowd. The noise. It’s too much.”

Sirius peered at Remus carefully. “Are you okay?” His voice was soft and gentle in a way that made Remus’s stomach twist, a way that he didn’t often hear. “What’s wrong, Moony?”

“Nothing, really,” Remus breezed. 

Sirius narrowed his eyes. “I know you better than that, come on, you can’t hide things from me. Don’t you know I’m obnoxiously persistent?”

It was true, and Remus snorted. Sirius really could never leave well enough alone. Sometimes, Remus was driven mad by this quality; other times, it endeared the other boy to him. Today, Remus was in good enough of a mood that he acquiesced and told the truth. “You know how I get, sometimes, don’t you? Scared for no reason? Well, today’s one of those days. I didn’t figure that being surrounded by a crowd of students would do much to make me feel better.”

“You should have said something, I would have stayed behind with you.”

“And you assume I would have wanted that?”

He grinned at Remus. “I know how you long for my presence, how every moment without me by your side is torture.” More seriously, he continued, “I can go if you want. I just figured you might want some company. We don’t have to stay in the castle, it’s fucking beautiful outside. We could go sit by the lake if you want.”

It was getting harder for Remus to refuse Sirius lately. He was running out of reasons not to spend as much time with his friend as possible. He was never one to simply give in to his first instinct; he trusted himself too little. But, guilty though he felt, Remus wanted nothing more than to sit by the lake with Sirius. So he pretended frustration and answered, “Yes, fine, let’s go to the lake.”

As they walked, Sirius told him about the game that was currently underway, including a passable imitation of James’s irrational anxiety. Remus couldn’t make himself care much about quidditch today, but he listened to Sirius nonetheless, occasionally laughing or nodding.

Once outside, Remus felt himself relax. It was a perfect day, and a breeze tousled his hair as the sun warmed his fingers. They meandered towards the lake and sat by its shore. “So what gives, Moony?” Sirius asked, once they had settled. “Care to share why you aren’t your usual bouncing self today?”

Remus sighed. It wasn’t worth lying to Sirius. He knew from experience that Sirius wouldn’t rest until he had the truth out of Remus. “Well, you know I haven’t been sleeping for the last two weeks. It seems like the less I sleep, the madder I am when I’m awake. I just didn’t want to be around people.”

Sirius peered at Remus. “Are you sure you don’t want me to go, then? I can go if you want to be alone, it’s no problem.”

“You don’t count as people.” Remus said it as a joke, but there was something true about it, too. When he couldn’t bear human company, somehow, he still felt better with Sirius around. “Besides, I can’t get rid of you if I try.”

“Yeah, but you never try very hard, do you? I reckon you like me too much.”

“Too much for my own good, certainly.”

“So what have you spent all day thinking in circles about? I know that’s how you think.” Sirius elbowed Remus as he spoke. He was right, of course; Remus had been spinning around a few unsavory thoughts in the prison of his mind, and wandering alone hadn’t done anything to dispel them.

“Nothing you want to hear about. Just typical wolf nonsense.”

“Don’t presume to know what I want to hear about. I  _ always  _ want to hear about you, haven’t you figured that out yet?”

Remus laughed halfheartedly. “Last month was just...really bad. You saw me afterwards. I’m just not eager for a repeat next week.”

Sirius said nothing for a while, which, for Sirius, was highly irregular. Remus looked over at him and saw that he was chewing on his lip and staring at the lake. Finally, he spoke. “I’m not supposed to tell you, Moony, I’m supposed to wait for the lads and all, but--jesus, I shouldn’t tell you this. You, with all your observational skills, I’m sure you’ve noticed we’ve been a bit dodgy lately?”

Remus’s chest constricted. He had noticed his friends sneaking around and excluding him, and he hadn’t said anything because he’d been afraid that he wouldn’t like any answers he found. He assumed his three friends were sick of it, of everything that being friends with Remus entailed. He hadn’t wanted to speed up the process by being cloying. To Sirius, he said simply, “You have been rather busy lately.”

Sirius grinned. “Understatement. Oh, jesus, James is going to kill me for telling you, but I hate to see you sad like this--”

“I’m not  _ sad--” _

__ “You’re sad, Moony, and hopefully this will make you feel better. What do you think we’ve been up to?” Sirius was almost vibrating with excitement.  _ “Animagi.  _ We fucking did it all and now we’re animagi. We were going to tell you tomorrow, together, but--god, isn’t it brilliant?”

Remus was taken aback by the sheer magnitude of the statement. “That’s illegal. And incredibly complex magic. How did you--or, why did you--” he broke off, unsure what else to ask. He also didn’t know why this was supposed to make him feel better.

“We can transform with you! Don’t you see? We’ll be with you, we’ll keep the wolf in check. It’ll be brilliant.”

Remus felt fury blossom slowly in his stomach. “Are you mad? Merlin, Sirius, you can’t  _ transform  _ with me. What are you on about?”

“We figured it all out, Moony, don’t you see? The wolf only hurts you so much because he doesn’t have a pack, doesn’t have anything else to do. With us there…”

Remus stood and paced with agitation. “With you there, I could kill someone. I can’t  _ believe  _ you. Are you serious? You three really became  _ animagi?  _ You are absolute bastards. I can’t believe you.”

For the first time, the light in Sirius’s eyes faltered. “Come on, Remus--don’t you think--isn’t it brilliant?” He was suddenly full of doubt. “We did this for you, to make it easier for you.”

“You did it for  _ you,  _ you mean. One more rule to break, one more dumb prank to pull. Very funny, getting the rabid werewolf’s hopes up and putting yourselves in danger.  _ Hilarious.” _

__ Sirius stood and grabbed Remus’s shoulders. Anger flashed across his face. “No, we did it for you. You’re too stubborn to take help, which is why we didn’t tell you about it beforehand. But you have to let us help you, after we’ve done all this. You _ have  _ to let us help you. We can’t-- _ I  _ can’t stand thinking about you, every month, tearing yourself to shreds. I haven’t slept a minute on a full moon since we’ve known, did you know that? I’m never okay until I see you the next day. It drives Pete mad, the way I tear my hair out and go on, but I can’t help it. It hurts me to think of it hurting you.”

Remus looked into Sirius’s eyes and saw the truth there. He felt overwhelmed by the force of Sirius’s affection, and he had the sudden desire to kiss him. He shook it off as an inconvenience. It wasn’t the first time he had felt such an urge, and it was getting easier to ignore the more used to it he was. He turned away from Sirius and laughed. “You are an absolute idiot. I don’t know what you think is going to come of this. But thank you. Really, thank you.”

As quickly as the storm had risen in Sirius, it dissipated and he was all bright energy again. “Just wait til you see us, we really are brilliant.”

“Well,” Remus said, glancing around. “The whole school is at the match. No one’s here. Why not show me what you can do?”

Sirius grinned and abruptly turned into a giant, black dog. Remus laughed in delight as the dog jumped up on his chest and toppled him to the ground, licking his face. Remus reached up to scratch between the dog’s ears and muttered, “I love you, you wanker. Couldn’t ask for a better friend.” The dog barked and lay its head on Remus’s chest. They remained like that until the noise indicated that the match was over and it was time to rejoin reality.


End file.
